King Trevis - Jeremy Irons (Reversal of Fortune, The Borgias, Die Hard with a Vengeance). He'd only be in the first movie

Tom Curry - Jim Caviziel (Person of Interest, The Count of Monte Cristo, Passion of the Christ). He'd appear in flashbacks in the first film

Black Manta/David - Nate Parker (Red Tails, Great Debaters, Arbitage)

How I would do the story:

Aquaman
-Basically Arthur's Modern Age origin with some modifications. Arthur is the son of King Trevis and Queen Atlanna. Due to the dangerous power struggles he is placed on Mercy Reef in Florida as a child and found by Tom Curry. He is raised human. (more on that in the next films)
-Arthur has quite a temper and ends up being kicked out of the Navy (which Tom used to be in)
-Eventually maybe 5 years before the main timeline of the movie starts, Tom Curry goes missing. Finding what happened to Tom drives Arthur more then anything. Arthur spends 5 years travelling/drifting around looking for his father. IN those 5 years, he does stop sea crimes such as piracy, whaling, etc. but he does so in secret.
-Arthur's journey leads him to Atlantis where the last 2 acts of the story take place.
-Orm would be the villain, although he'd just be pulling the strings. The Trench would be the upfront villains threatening to destroy the world
-King Trevis would be killed sometime during this movie
-Instead of Mera being from another dimension she'd just be from another underwater kingdom somewhere else in the world
-I put Ayodle as a wizard, possibly Atlan, because I think an interesting aspect could be the difference/debate between old school magic (Ayoade's character) and science (Gleeson as Vulko) . I think that could be interesting and could be used to show why Orm is so powerful as he is an expert both

Aquaman 2 (Idk what to call it. King of Atlantis, King of the Seas, King Orin...idk)
-Picks up 1 year later. Arthur and Mera would have a kid.
-I'd have this movie take place in multiple places in the Ocean
-Black Manta would be introduced. His origin would be partly based on the new 52 where a younger Arthur killed his father when he was stopping a pirate raid before he became Aquaman). His suit would be based on Atlantean technology and given to him by Orm
-Orm would be revealed as the Big Bad of the trilogy
-Arthur's origin would actually be revealed to be different from what he was told. He would be revealed to be the half human/half Atlantean son of Tom Curry and Atlanna (which is actually his Silver Age origin). Orm would use it against him and it would also explain why Arthur could
-Arthur would lose his hand like he did in the DCAU, he cuts it off in order to save his son. But honestly I would make it even darker. I'd have him cut it off, but not in time to save the baby. However that would probably be WAY too dark than a studio is willing to go in a PG13 summer/winter tentpole. Arthur would get the hook hand.
-At the end of the story, Arthur is usurped from his throne and banished along with Mera. Vulko, Ayoade's character, and Atlanna would be imprisoned.

Aquaman 3 (again idk the title)
-Picks up a bit later with Arthur and Mera in exile up in Amnesty Bay. Both severely depressed/broken
-The villain would still be Orm and he would be ruling Atlantis, but he wouldnt be doing a good job of it. Kind of like Scar in Lion King. He got the throne but is running the kingdom into the ground.
-The new villain would be some Lovcraftian, old, demon thing. Similar to Ichthultu in JLU (who is based on Cthulhu). Only thing king of Atlantis has a chance of controlling/stopping him. But because Orm sucks as a king, people are worried that the monster will destroy everything.
-So somebody, either Ayoade's character or Vulko, would break out of prison to get Arthur to return to Atlantis and take his place as king and defeat Orm and the monster
-Arthur would get his water hand
-I definetly want a scene similar to Orm's death in the DCAU when instead of Arthur grabbing his brother's hand, he grabs the Trident of Poseidon and lets Orm fall.

Some other notes:
-I'd have Atlantis be like the Gungan city. With all the buildings encased in domes/spheres
-Atlanteans, when in the water, would communicate through telepathy
-I'd keep a lot of the trilogy underwater. That's one thing that really sets Aquaman apart from 99% of other heroes in DC and MArvel and they should explore that
-THey should really explore the idea that Aquaman is a King of over 70 percent of the Earth.
-In Atlantis there would be multiple races, not just human looking beings
-I'd have Arthur switch his look up between movies:

King Trevis - Jeremy Irons (Reversal of Fortune, The Borgias, Die Hard with a Vengeance). He'd only be in the first movie

Tom Curry - Jim Caviziel (Person of Interest, The Count of Monte Cristo, Passion of the Christ). He'd appear in flashbacks in the first film

Black Manta/David - Nate Parker (Red Tails, Great Debaters, Arbitage)

How I would do the story:

Aquaman
-Basically Arthur's Modern Age origin with some modifications. Arthur is the son of King Trevis and Queen Atlanna. Due to the dangerous power struggles he is placed on Mercy Reef in Florida as a child and found by Tom Curry. He is raised human. (more on that in the next films)
-Arthur has quite a temper and ends up being kicked out of the Navy (which Tom used to be in)
-Eventually maybe 5 years before the main timeline of the movie starts, Tom Curry goes missing. Finding what happened to Tom drives Arthur more then anything. Arthur spends 5 years travelling/drifting around looking for his father. IN those 5 years, he does stop sea crimes such as piracy, whaling, etc. but he does so in secret.
-Arthur's journey leads him to Atlantis where the last 2 acts of the story take place.
-Orm would be the villain, although he'd just be pulling the strings. The Trench would be the upfront villains threatening to destroy the world
-King Trevis would be killed sometime during this movie
-Instead of Mera being from another dimension she'd just be from another underwater kingdom somewhere else in the world
-I put Ayodle as a wizard, possibly Atlan, because I think an interesting aspect could be the difference/debate between old school magic (Ayoade's character) and science (Gleeson as Vulko) . I think that could be interesting and could be used to show why Orm is so powerful as he is an expert both

Aquaman 2 (Idk what to call it. King of Atlantis, King of the Seas, King Orin...idk)
-Picks up 1 year later. Arthur and Mera would have a kid.
-I'd have this movie take place in multiple places in the Ocean
-Black Manta would be introduced. His origin would be partly based on the new 52 where a younger Arthur killed his father when he was stopping a pirate raid before he became Aquaman). His suit would be based on Atlantean technology and given to him by Orm
-Orm would be revealed as the Big Bad of the trilogy
-Arthur's origin would actually be revealed to be different from what he was told. He would be revealed to be the half human/half Atlantean son of Tom Curry and Atlanna (which is actually his Silver Age origin). Orm would use it against him and it would also explain why Arthur could
-Arthur would lose his hand like he did in the DCAU, he cuts it off in order to save his son. But honestly I would make it even darker. I'd have him cut it off, but not in time to save the baby. However that would probably be WAY too dark than a studio is willing to go in a PG13 summer/winter tentpole. Arthur would get the hook hand.
-At the end of the story, Arthur is usurped from his throne and banished along with Mera. Vulko, Ayoade's character, and Atlanna would be imprisoned.

Aquaman 3 (again idk the title)
-Picks up a bit later with Arthur and Mera in exile up in Amnesty Bay. Both severely depressed/broken
-The villain would still be Orm and he would be ruling Atlantis, but he wouldnt be doing a good job of it. Kind of like Scar in Lion King. He got the throne but is running the kingdom into the ground.
-The new villain would be some Lovcraftian, old, demon thing. Similar to Ichthultu in JLU (who is based on Cthulhu). Only thing king of Atlantis has a chance of controlling/stopping him. But because Orm sucks as a king, people are worried that the monster will destroy everything.
-So somebody, either Ayoade's character or Vulko, would break out of prison to get Arthur to return to Atlantis and take his place as king and defeat Orm and the monster
-Arthur would get his water hand
-I definetly want a scene similar to Orm's death in the DCAU when instead of Arthur grabbing his brother's hand, he grabs the Trident of Poseidon and lets Orm fall.

Some other notes:
-I'd have Atlantis be like the Gungan city. With all the buildings encased in domes/spheres
-Atlanteans, when in the water, would communicate through telepathy
-I'd keep a lot of the trilogy underwater. That's one thing that really sets Aquaman apart from 99% of other heroes in DC and MArvel and they should explore that
-THey should really explore the idea that Aquaman is a King of over 70 percent of the Earth.
-In Atlantis there would be multiple races, not just human looking beings
-I'd have Arthur switch his look up between movies:

Honestly, a theatrical Aquaman would probably seem like a big risk for WB to try. Aquaman's powers are laughed at, he's not a household name like Superman and Batman, but in the future, with a Justice League movie, you could introduce him in that movie, or in a Batman reboot movie, or a WW movie, or whatever. Kinda like Black Widow and Hawkeye in the Marvel movies. I'd say same thing with Martian Manhunter.

Honestly, a theatrical Aquaman would probably seem like a big risk for WB to try. Aquaman's powers are laughed at, he's not a household name like Superman and Batman, but in the future, with a Justice League movie, you could introduce him in that movie, or in a Batman reboot movie, or a WW movie, or whatever. Kinda like Black Widow and Hawkeye in the Marvel movies. I'd say same thing with Martian Manhunter.

Aquaman is more of a household name than you think.....I don't know anyone fans or nonfans who don't know who he is.....We have generations that remember SuperFriends. The Bruce Timm animated version is still fresh.....and the kingdom of Atlantis has always been an attention getter. I really think they should drop a nugget in this Man of Steel movie.

Personally after Iron Man, Aquaman is my favorite comic book hero, it would be an awesome movie, but it in my opinion would need star recognition, as has been said, the character gets made fun of a lot, from producers of super friends who said it was near impossible to create circumstances for him to use his powers, to tv shows like big bang theory who while he is mentioned numerous times, its always as the butt of a joke.
Plus DC themselves don't seem able to make up their mind if he will be used in the JL movie, last year when it was rumored that a JL movie was being green lite, Aquaman was not part of the team, it is the same problem Marvel has with Sub Mariner, how do you make a movie about a man who's super powers come from water, the cgi alone would take up the bulk of a movies budget, plus right now DC is so far behind Marvel in movie continuity that a Aquaman movie seems distant, unless DC takes the Marvel approach and starts making their movie universe linked, which they did not do with any Batman films, they may with the new Superman film, but we will see, right now, DC is hanging their hat on the usual duo of Batman and Superman, their only real other attempt was Green lantern and it was a box office failure, doubt DC and Warner would take another chance without seeing how MoS does. We will see I guess.

Personally after Iron Man, Aquaman is my favorite comic book hero, it would be an awesome movie, but it in my opinion would need star recognition, as has been said, the character gets made fun of a lot, from producers of super friends who said it was near impossible to create circumstances for him to use his powers, to tv shows like big bang theory who while he is mentioned numerous times, its always as the butt of a joke.
Plus DC themselves don't seem able to make up their mind if he will be used in the JL movie, last year when it was rumored that a JL movie was being green lite, Aquaman was not part of the team, it is the same problem Marvel has with Sub Mariner, how do you make a movie about a man who's super powers come from water, the cgi alone would take up the bulk of a movies budget, plus right now DC is so far behind Marvel in movie continuity that a Aquaman movie seems distant, unless DC takes the Marvel approach and starts making their movie universe linked, which they did not do with any Batman films, they may with the new Superman film, but we will see, right now, DC is hanging their hat on the usual duo of Batman and Superman, their only real other attempt was Green lantern and it was a box office failure, doubt DC and Warner would take another chance without seeing how MoS does. We will see I guess.

Marvel is working on AntMan for cryin' out loud.....Talk about the brunt of jokes?? Really?? LOL But Marvel believes in its characters more than DC does.....Look at the green screen in Pacific Rim.....or even the last Narnia movie. Not all of the movie has to be underwater.

You gotta be the first one to take your product seriously.....too bad.

There's a difference between Ant-Man and Aquaman. Ant-Man is simply unknown. Sure, his name brings to mind some obvious jokes, but your still working from a blank slate, which means the marketing can dispel the jokes if its done right. After all, ants are tiny, but there are also some positive image elements to invoke, like army ants and 'strong enough to lift six times its weight.'

Aquaman, meanwhile, *is* known. . . as a joke. With an entire elaborate mythos of jokes built around him. That's a much harder current to work against.

I would love to see an Aquaman movie. Ironfan72 is completely right when he says that it would need star power so that people know that Aquaman is the real deal. Plus he has to made into such a bad ass (jason bourne underwater) for it to be a success.

Black manta as a recurring villain who might join the legion of doom in a jla movie is the direction i would go in. Just please no hook hand/water hand or long haired aquaman

There's a difference between Ant-Man and Aquaman. Ant-Man is simply unknown. Sure, his name brings to mind some obvious jokes, but your still working from a blank slate, which means the marketing can dispel the jokes if its done right. After all, ants are tiny, but there are also some positive image elements to invoke, like army ants and 'strong enough to lift six times its weight.'

Aquaman, meanwhile, *is* known. . . as a joke. With an entire elaborate mythos of jokes built around him. That's a much harder current to work against.

Known is half the battle: Good or Bad, you still want people to Know You. Then the ball's in DC's court.
Dude.........question: Do comic books fans thing of him as a joke? NO. That's about 60 percent of your tickets. And if the movie is done right, these folks will drag their families with them and see it multiple times. Millions of fans.....

20 percent don't know him ...........They can be won over with the right trailer and star power. Liam Hemsworth.....perfecto.

20 percent think his a joke?? Again ....all myths and prejudice can be destroyed with the right trailer.......

An image of a man rising out of the sea on the back of a blue whale......him punching a hole through the hull of a ship.........ripping off the propeller of an aircraft carrier or sub! A huge view of the Ocean city of Atlantis!

Now I'm just throwin' stuff out there ...I sure folks can think of cooler stuff.....but you get my point.

They dont even believe in their own characters enuff to even try. And yet Marvel is doing Ant Man....?

Dude.........question: Do comic books fans thing of him as a joke? NO. That's about 60 percent of your tickets.

And right there you have your problem. No, comic book fans aren't even *close* to 60 percent of your tickets. They probably aren't even close to *6* percent of your tickets. The best selling comics sell in the tens of thousands. There are maybe a few hundred thousand comic readers total in the entire US. Every single comic fan could come out and watch a movie twice, and you'd still not even get Dredd gross.

A comic book movie has to sell itself to the general audience, first foremost and only, because the actual comic book readers *don't matter*.

Both Ant-Man and Aquaman are far from household names. The difference between the two is that the non-comic crowd remembers the worst part of Ant-Man - the domestic violence - and Aquaman is viewed as a joke thanks to Family Guy.

__________________
"Johnny Storm's a good-hearted kid, sure, but he has the attention span of a toaster, and he leads with his face; in Johnny's undisciplined mind, there's only a single synapse between thinking and doing. The Avengers' battle cry is "Avengers Assemble"; the Fantastic Four's is "Johnny, WAIT!"----Mark Waid